when pigs fly

when pigs fly

At a point in time that will never come to pass. (Used to show skepticism or cynicism over some hypothetical situation or outcome.) A: "If we could just both political parties to agree on a tax reform bill, we could bring the deficit down in no time." B: "Sure, that will happen—when pigs fly!" I'm sure that David would be happy to pay for everyone—when pigs fly, that is.
See also: fly, pig
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

when pigs fly

Never, as in Sure he'll pay for the drinks-when pigs fly. Equating the flight of pigs with something impossible dates from the early 1600s, when several writers alleged that pigs fly with their tails forward. The idiom is also put as pigs may fly.
See also: fly, pig
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

when pigs fly

Also, and pigs might fly. Never. Versions of this sarcastic remark, indicating the unlikeliness of an event, date from at least the eighteenth century. One of the first written versions was “That is as likely as to see a Hog fly” (Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732), and numerous proverb collections repeat the idea. For example, “Will I work for that company again? When pigs fly!” See also till hell freezes over.
See also: fly, pig
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • the thing is
  • the thing is...
  • the thing of it is
  • agree to
  • come down to the wire
  • be down to the wire
  • ((do) you) know what I mean
  • ((do) you) know what I'm saying
  • alarmist tactics
  • against the current
References in periodicals archive
In his second and, tragically, his last show, When Pigs Fly (now playing at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles), Howard introduces us to his alter ego, a ldd who shows up at his high school's "Dress As Your Favorite Character from Fiction Day" as Dream Curly from Oklahoma/ Not butch baritone Curly but Dream Curly, the ballet-dancing Curly of the musical's dream sequences, all done up in fluffy pink fur chaps.
Dream Howard wants to be in show business -- something that will happen, his guidance counselor tells him, when pigs fly. All those onetime little boys in the audience know what Howard was talking about.
Show tunes and Star Wars
Before his AIDS-related death in 1996, brilliant Broadway costumer Howard Crabtree created the season's gayest hit, When Pigs Fly
From his early cabaret work to his last and greatest show, Howard Crabtree's When Pigs Fly, Crabtree created unique costumes that he himself referred to as "Disney on drugs."
Crabtree died of AIDS complications on June 28, before finishing work on When Pigs Fly, a musical revue in which five actors play everything from showgirls to centaurs, virtually suspending the laws of gravity with their spirited, gay-themed high jinks.
"Collaboratively speaking, we fell in love with each other," says Waldrop, who later wrote and directed When Pigs Fly. "I provided words that put Howard's vision into a context - and his imagination allowed me to go places I never could have gone on my own." Crabtree's influence also went deeper.
One singular sensation